TEACHER PERCEPTIONS OF ENGLISH AS A COMMUNICATIVE MEDIUM VERSUS AN ACADEMIC DISCIPLINE: A LITERATURE REVIEW
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.60087/jklst.vol4.n4.007Keywords:
Teacher perceptions, English as an academic discipline, English as a communicative medium, Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), English as a Lingua Franca (ELF), Vietnamese educational reformAbstract
The shift toward viewing English as a global communicative tool has become a central focus in English language teaching (ELT), yet a significant tension remains between its role as a functional medium and a traditional academic discipline. This paper addresses this gap by investigating teacher perceptions in Vietnamese contexts where communicative policy mandates often conflict with classroom realities. The study examines the pedagogical and institutional factors, including high-stakes assessment and negative washback, that shape educators’ beliefs and classroom practices. It further explores how the emergence of English as a lingua franca (ELF) and artificial intelligence (AI) influences teacher identities and professional development within these systems. Utilizing a desk-based literature review to synthesize theories, concepts, and empirical research, the paper therefore intends to provide a theoretical roadmap for bridging the binary between social fluency and academic proficiency, offering analysis and implications for systemic reforms in assessment and infrastructure to align educational outcomes with twenty-first-century global demands.
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